“I am really excited to be working with such a talented and acclaimed actor as Billy,” Valentini said in a statement. “Our cast is thrilled that he will be joining our General Hospital family, and I know that he will be an amazing addition to our talented cast.”

Emmy winner Steve Burton (now on Y&R) previously played Jason.

Ready for more of today’s newsy nuggets? Well…

* Orange Is the New Black breakout Laverne Cox will guest-star on MTV’s Faking It as a Hester High alum and the director of the school’s elite drama club, EW.com reports.

* PBS will air Robin Williams Remembered — A Pioneers of Television Special on Sept. 9 at 9/8c, featuring the late actor’s last full-length TV interview and an exclusive, new interview with his Mork & Mindy co-star Pam Dawber.

* Taylor Swift will serve as an advisor on the upcoming season of The Voice, according to a report in Us Weekly.

* Greg Grunberg (Heroes) will appear on CSI as a white-collar everyman battling addiction at a high-end rehab facility, per EW.com.

Lol, the Billy Miller news was one of the worst kept secrets ,for months everyone has been talking about him taking the G.H. role. I think he will do a great job and I look forward to seeing him in action.

Exactly. But it makes me very happy. I loves me some Billy Miller. I just hope that he comes back as more than “Stone Cold” Jason Morgan. He’s such a talented guy that the brain damaged cold hitman would be a waste.

Many of us have ben expecting this since he left Y&R. Another huge GH grab adding another Y&R Emmy winner to the cast. Billy Miller’s final scenes on Y&R were absolutely incredible. Delia’s death (his on-screen daughter) was a showcase of his acting abilities. I can see him playing more of a Jason Quartermaine than a Jason Morgan. He has such a range.

I’ve been thinking that Jason will come back changed and be more like his old Quartermaine self. Maybe even the soap-favorite amnesia storyline will come into play and he’ll have no recollection of his life as Jason Morgan or of Sam and Danny, sadly.

THREE EMMY’S THREE EMMY’S WHO CARES ACTORES HAVE AWARED’S EVERY OTHER MONTH That actors have to pat them self’s on the back, once gh doe’s this there Is no way they can go back and destroy the charator of jason

Love Billy Miller and can’t wait to see him on GH. I was going to ask how they were going to explain how Jason and Franco were twins when there’s an obvious age difference, but then I remembered they fixed that ridiculous piece of story already.

I wouldn’t have minded if Jason stayed dead. Now he’s going to eat the show along with Nina, Ava, Silas and all the other new characters. Unfortunately for me it means the ones I like, long term GH characters and actors, are going to be back burned for all these stars from other soaps.

I was so happy to have no Jason on GH. The women he was paired with are so much better with other love interests. Robin with Patrick, Sam with Silas, Carly with… Well, I can’t stand Carly, either, so I suppose she might as well be with Jason as long as they’re both off screen A LOT. His character was just so awful, the stone cold, dead eyed killer who is inexplicably never called on his crimes. Maybe after whatever happened to him in the lab and a new actor, Jason will actually have guilt and emotion and not be such a waste of time. I’m dubious, but I guess we’ll see.

The casting news is not shocking in the least bit, but it’s nice to finally get the official word! Billy Miller is an incredibly talented actor, and I can’t wait to see him working with the rest of the GH acting company.

As for Jason’s return… I’m not sure how I feel just yet. It will depend on who he is when he wakes up. If he’s still Stone Cold Jason Morgan, it’s a waste of Miller’s talent. He’ll do more with the role than Steve Burton had been, but he would be limited. The character has been stale for years and ran his course by the end of Burton’s tenure. If he’s Jason Quartermaine and forgets all of his years as Jason Morgan, it will be too similar to Nina’s story. While Jason did not spend 20 years in a coma, it would be the equivalent. Only instead of sleeping his life away, it would be like someone else had taken over his life for two decades and then handed it back over. I think that story probably still has more potential than him waking up as Jason Morgan.

Personally, I would prefer that he wake up with BOTH sets of memories and then have to reconcile the two lives. Miller is certainly talented enough to pull it off and I can see him really sinking his teeth into it. It’s the ultimate crisis of identity. Jason Quartermaine was the golden child. Jason Morgan was a contract killer. I would love to see this storyline because it would revitalize the character, allow Miller as a recast to really put his spin on the role, and it would have emotional fallout for many of the long term characters. Not only would Jason have to reconcile the two lives, but everyone in his life would have to come to terms with who he is now. Sam, Elizabeth, Robin, Carly, Sonny, Michael and Monica in particular would all be pulled into this storyline (to varying degrees, e.g. Kimberly McCullough will always be in and out, which limits Robin’s involvement unfortunately). I think this option has the most potential for future storylines, as well.

I really like your idea of him having to deal with both identities and figuring out who he really is, it’s a good twist on him waking up as Jason Quartermaine. Who does he want to be: Monica’s golden boy? Sonny’s right hand man? Carly’s bff/therapist? It would be interesting to see who of his former loves he’s drawn to and I hope they don’t immediately pair him up with someone but chem test him with Kelly and Becky and maybe even some other actresses.

Exactly. I am also hoping that he does not pair up with any of his former loves right away. Regardless of who he wakes up as, there will be a period of adjustment to Miller’s take on the character. Not to mention everyone in Port Charles believes he’s been dead for two years. Walking right back into a life with Sam, Elizabeth or anyone else would be lazy storytelling. Hopefully, they will spend time chem testing him with both ladies and others on the canvas – both romantically and otherwise. For example, while I doubt there will be a Jason/Carly romance redux, I am curious to see how Miller and Laura Wright will play off of each other.

I agree with this somewhat. Jason began to form bonds with the Quartermaines over the years before he was presumed dead. I liked that side of the character. I think taking it any further would be too out of Character for the Jason Morgan we all love. The character wasn’t stale, but the writing was totally out of character for him. TERRIBLE actually. SB can’t be blamed for that. He is excellent in his own right. It is going to take a bit of getting use to. But it really depends on the writing, not the actor. Lots of potential, I just hope they get it right!

He had formed some bonds with the Quartermaines, but he was still only peripherally involved in their lives most of the time. I don’t necessarily want to see him included in the ELQ storylines, but I would be curious to see him interact with them again as an actual member of the family. By which I mean, as someone who remembers growing up in that house and feels like a Quartermaine – not just the red headed step child/black sheep of the family. When I say that the character was stale and had run his course by the end of Burton’s tenure, I in no way meant to imply that this was Burton’s fault. I was critiquing the writing for the character which had become stale particularly the last few years of Guza’s reign of terror. There had been some improvement since Carlivati had taken over, but in all honesty, I was pretty tired of the character by the time Burton left. It was sad to see him leave, but in some ways the break has been good for the other characters in his orbit. I hope it will also have ultimately been good for the character of Jason as well. The writing has to be there, of that I completely agree, but I also think that the actor has a lot to do with the outcome. The best writing in the world would be slaughtered by a poor actor. Alternatively, the worst writing in the world cannot be saved by a great actor. I am hopeful that Carlivati’s writing and Miller’s spin on the character will mesh well. Carlivati hasn’t gotten every storyline right since he took over the show but he has done most things well and Miller is a very talented actor. I like those odds!

I disagree with some of these comments. Steve Burton played a complicated character. To take away his bad boy character with a soft heart for everyone he loved to make him a boring Quartermaine would be the waste of Billy Miller’s talent. He could come back with a softer side but still be Sonny’s enforcer. People are forgetting that he was a core character and I think just the opposite will happen. When he returns most of the vet characters will be front and center. Sam, Carly, Sonny, Michael, Monica, etc. Jason is one of the most important characters to GH. That should be realized by the way fans reacted when Steve Burton left. I would have loved for SB to return but Billy Miller will be great and make that character his own!!!

I LOVE Billy Miller! But I’ll confess, I’d almost rather he be a recast Lucky than a recast Jason BUT I’ll take him any way I can. It’ll definitely be interesting to see his take on such a well connected character, as well as what his chemistry is like with the women in his life (Carly, Liz, Sam, Robin). He almost seems TOO young but I’ll hold out on any judgment until we see him in the role. I’m now keeping fingers crossed for a Liason reunion!

I thought that I had heard somewhere that Jason was coming back as sort of a “puppet” as to what Victor WANTS him to be. He is supposedly going to brainwash Jason into being against Sonny, and everyone else that he wants Jason “programmed” to do. I will hate it if that is true…..but I do love the idea of Jason struggling between his two worlds……or waking up thinking that he is still in love with Robin (after all, she did bring him back to life) I guess we will all see how this turns out…..for November Sweeps. PLEASE make it something that is not boring or predictable.

No matter what you do, Jason will not be Jason unless its Steve Burton. you have already messed up the show so badly it may never recover. I have been watching since 1965 and these writers are some of GH worst. Sadly, i may not watch much longer. breaks my heart to see it destroyed. get rid of Nina and her sidekick and Ava too!!@@@

I think Billy will do a great job! He’s a very talented actor with good sensibilities, choices, depth & humor. I’m glad that G.H. waited a while to re-cast Steve Burton ‘ s character Jason Morgan. Equally interesting, both actors worked together briefly on Y &R before the exec.’s foolishly fired him. BTW, this new Billy Abbott is horrible!!! He does absolutely nothing for the multi-dimensional character! They should of at least kept character originator, David Tom! What were they thinking?? When are they gonna bring back Victoria Rowell as Dru? I do think it’s great that Y& R briefly brought back Shemar Moore as Malcom. The other re-casted actor did not work! I think G.H. did well with this re-cast. Y& R ‘s loss is G.H.’s gain!!!

I may have to stop watching this is so wrong if they are doing something this stupid what’s next changing Sonny I thought the change they made to Geary in the role of Luke not being one of Sonnys best friends but oh wait he’s not really Luke was annoying enough I got used to the change of Lulu which was bad enough and my brain still really does not accept her but changing Jason now they have gone to far they need to make a deal with Jason and bring the real one back I am aggravated

the new Lulu: of all the actresses…? The Fluke track is very annoying. The the new Jason is completely wrong for the role. And please please stop putting so much product in the men’s hair. They’re all so greasy and artificial.

I went to general Hospital because of billy miller.He ia a fantastic actor.When his on screen daughter died,he was great.He plays a great drunk,I just love him.Nobody will ever be able to play Billy on Y&R.Give him a chance you will love him too.

I am sorry I think the new Jason Morgan does not fit in Steve Burtons shoes. Too big of a role to replace. He makes me uncomfortable playing Jason. He’s too nice and has an innocent face. Not to mention a lisp which is not a big deal but is for the role he’s playing. I don’t get it. That may be mean but I wish the new hason would come back.